The nomadic Mongolian diet consists almost exclusively of the animals they herd, and the dairy products they make from their animals’ milk.

While on the 9 day tour of the Gobi desert, we were offered the chance to see how these remote people kill and prepare a goat for food and materials. Our group clubbed together and bought an (unlucky) male goat which was then slaughtered, skinned, butchered, and cooked for us by our host family.

“Hi there, I’m not really that tasty..”

We weren’t sure how we’d feel watching an animal being killed, as neither of us had seen it first-hand before. We were relieved to witness an apparently very quick death of the goat, with no bloodshed, and we weren’t immediately compelled to become vegetarian either.

Here’s a short video of the whole process which is mostly still shots, but does include footage of the killing itself which I mention in case you’d rather not see it.